Extinction of the Steller's Sea Cow
- When
- 1741–1768
- Where
- Bering Island, Commander Islands; Bering Island, last refuge of the species; Location of reported sightings not specified in sources
- Episodes
- 3
Steller's sea cow, described by Georg Wilhelm Steller in 1741 after his shipwreck on Bering Island, was hunted for its meat and declared extinct by 1768, just twenty-seven years after its European discovery, with the last population confined to the Commander Islands.
Episodes
- Discovery on Bering Island, 1741
Steller first encountered the sea cow while shipwrecked on Bering Island during the Great Northern Expedition, describing the species in 1741.
- Extinction Declared by 1768
Brandt concluded that by 1768, twenty-seven years after European discovery, the species was extinct; the Bering Island article confirms hunting to extinction by 1768.
- Reported Sightings After 1768
Sea cow sightings were reported after Brandt's official 1768 extinction date, though the species is treated as extinct.
Background and detail
Discovery and Restricted Range. Georg Wilhelm Steller described the species Hydrodamalis gigas in 1741, first encountering it during Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition when the crew was shipwrecked on Bering Island. At that time the sea cow was found only around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, its range having contracted drastically from a former North Pacific distribution.
Hunting and Extinction by 1768. The sea cow was hunted for its meat, becoming extinct within three decades of its discovery. It was exploited by Ivan Krassilnikov in 1754 and Ivan Korovin in 1762, but Dimitri Bragin in 1772 and later observers did not see it. Brandt concluded that by 1768, twenty-seven years after European discovery, the species was extinct.
Ecology and Pre-existing Vulnerability. The manatee-like herbivore fed on kelp beds surrounding Bering Island, spending most of the day feeding. Stejneger estimated fewer than 1,500 individuals remained at discovery, and genomic research indicates the species was already declining from low genetic diversity caused by climate change and Paleolithic human hunting before Steller's arrival.
Sources
- Steller's sea cow Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-20
- Bering Island Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-17
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.